Workers to help wire rural Guatemala villages LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A group of 14 linemen from eight electric cooperatives across Arkansas will leave this week for Guatemala, where they will help bring electricity to remote villages in the Central American country. The linemen, accompanied by a safety manager, are to leave Wednesday, according to Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, and will be the second group from the organization to perform the work. "The Arkansas electric cooperative linem...

Man charged with killing ex-wife in Logan County PARIS (AP) — A Logan County man has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his ex-wife. Prosecutors on Friday charged Joshua Johnson, 38, of New Blaine in the Wednesday shooting death of Lora Karras, 30, at Karras' home in Scranton. Authorities said three children were in the home at the time but were not injured. Johnson is jailed on $1 million bond and has not yet entered a plea. Logan County sheriff's investigators s...

Prescribed burns conducted in western Arkansas LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Fire managers conducted prescribed burns in the Ouachita and Ozark-St. Francis National Forests, including Scott and Yell counties. National forest officials the burns were planned in the Ouachita National Forest for a total of 6,922 acres. Another burn of 2,551 acres was planned for the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest near Danville. A prescribed fire is one that is ignited by highly trained fire personnel under specified ...

New speaker wants to avoid Medicaid fight LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The incoming speaker of the Arkansas House said Friday that he hoped next year to avoid the "drama" that marked the debate over continuing the state's compromise Medicaid expansion during this year's legislative session. During a panel discussion with other lawmakers about the state's "private option" and its future, House Speaker-Designate Rep. Jeremy Gillam said he believed lawmakers should consult over the coming months a...

Shoffner seeks acquittal on federal charges LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Lawyers for former Arkansas treasurer Martha Shoffner told a federal judge Friday that he should acquit her on 14 bribery and extortion charges because prosecutors never established that Shoffner harmed the U.S. government by accepting $36,000 from a bond dealer who did business with the state. A jury convicted Shoffner last week after the judge withheld judgment on a defense request to order Shoffner freed on grounds that p...

Ban continues against faculty guns on UA campus LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees decided to continue a ban on faculty and staff carrying concealed handguns on campuses. The board on Friday decided to continue the existing ban. A UA system spokesman said the president of the board heard from officials from across the system and they all recommended that that policy stay in place. In 2013, Arkansas passed a law allowing secondary educational institutions ...

World Services for the Blind CEO to retire LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The chief executive officer for Little Rock-based World Services for the Blind has announced his retirement. Larry Dickerson said Thursday he plans to leave effective Aug. 15. Board chairman Tom Duke says an executive search committee has been formed and that he hopes to name a successor by the end of May. Dickerson has led the nonprofit since 2009. World Services for the Blind helps blind and partially blind people build sk...

Rogers police warn of 'Green-Dot Scam' ROGERS, Ark. (AP) — Police in Rogers are warning area residents about the so-called "Green-Dot Scam." Police said in a news release that they've received complaints about the scam in which residents receive a phone call from a person claiming to be from a local utility company and saying the resident must pay a delinquent utility bill or the service would be shut off. The scam is known as the Green-Dot Scam because victims are told to go to a ...

Last call for Wild Turkey at bottling plant FORT SMITH (AP) — Fourteen people will be out of work as the bottling of Wild Turkey bourbon moves from a Fort Smith plant to a facility in Kentucky. Officials at Fort Smith's Pernod Ricard USA plant said that operations will be shifted to Lawrenceburg, Ky., effective March 29. Pernod Ricard sold the Wild Turkey brand to Gruppo Campari in 2009 but continued to bottle the bourbon. Campari announced plans in 2012 to build its own bottling plant ...

Judge awards another $525M to Tony Alamo victims LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas judge has awarded seven women physically and sexually abused by evangelist Tony Alamo another $525 million, pushing the total owed by the imprisoned preacher and an affiliated church to more than $1 billion. Miller County Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson entered a default judgment Thursday ordering Alamo to match the $525 million already owed by Twenty First Century Holiness Tabernacle Church for actual and punitive da...

Jack Fleck, winner of 1955 US Open, dies at 92FORT SMITH (AP) — Jack Fleck, who produced one of golf's greatest upsets by beating Ben Hogan in a playoff to win the 1955 U.S. Open, died Friday. He was 92. He had been the oldest living U.S. Open champion. The Edwards Funeral Home said Fleck died after a brief illness. Jim Edwards, the general manager, said he saw Fleck hitting golf balls as recently as six weeks ago. Fleck returned to The Olympic Club two years ago when the U.S. Open celebr...

Woman dead, man arrested in Scranton shooting SCRANTON (AP) — Logan County authorities say a woman was killed and a man is in custody after a shooting at a home near Scranton in western Arkansas. The Times Record reported the shooting was reported Wednesday afternoon and Logan County deputies found the woman dead at the scene. Chief Deputy David Spicer said the man was arrested at the scene and that two children found in the home were not injured. The names of the dead woman and the man w...

After 20-plus snow days, Arkansas cuts school year LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas' Board of Education offered some spring sunshine Thursday to winter-weary parents: School districts that tallied a month's worth of snow days won't have to extend their academic years well into June. Parents who had to take days off work or arrange extra childcare to deal with school closures week after week won't have to rearrange vacation plans and summer camps - though between now and Memorial Day, some schools w...

Guilty plea for man featured on 'Ozarks' show HARDY (AP) — An Arkansas man featured on "Clash of the Ozarks" has pleaded guilty to a federal gun charge. Kerry Wayne Evans of Hardy pleaded guilty to this week to illegally possessing an unregistered machine gun. Evans appears on Discovery Channel's reality show "Clash of the Ozarks," which highlights two feuding families in the Arkansas town of Hardy. According to The Jonesboro Sun, Evans faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines...

Arkansas defends gay marriage ban as hearing nears LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Opponents and supporters of Arkansas' ban on gay marriage are sparring in court filings over whether the state's constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage serves a legitimate purpose and can be challenged at the state level. Attorneys for the state and a group of same-sex couples filed competing arguments in Pulaski County court on Wednesday seeking summary judgment over the challenge to a constitutional amendment v...

Couple impersonates DHS workers in Scott County WALDRON (AP) — Authorities are investigating an attempted scam in western Arkansas in which two people tried to impersonate Department of Human Services employees. DHS said Wednesday that a man and a woman identified themselves as DHS adult protective services employees and tried to gain access to an elderly woman's home in Waldron this week. DHS says the woman asked for identification, but the pair said they'd left it in their car and were no...

Appeals of Oklahoma inmate in Arkansas slayings rejected LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of an Oklahoma man convicted in 2005 of killing two women at a De Queen cemetery monument company. The court on Thursday rejected the appeals of Mickey Dale Thomas in the 2004 deaths of 46-year-old Mona Lee Shelton and 45-year-old Donna Marie Cary. Thomas had argued that his trial attorney should have called a police officer to testify that there was no indication of sexual ...

Crash snarls I-440 in both directions east of LR LITTLE ROCK (AP) — One person is dead in a fiery crash on Interstate 440 in Little Rock and traffic is tied up in both directions as responders work to clear the scene. Arkansas State Police say the crash occurred at about 2 p.m. when a car was backing up westbound in the eastbound lanes. A big rig hit the car from behind, jackknifed and was struck by a second tractor-trailer. State police say two people have been taken to a hospital. The dead...

Woman slips out of handcuffs, escapes bailiffs HOT SPRINGS (AP) — Garland County authorities are searching for a woman who escaped from custody after slipping out of handcuffs following a court hearing. The sheriff's department said Wednesday that 25-year-old Mandy Rose Cavanaugh escaped the handcuffs and ran from bailiffs after a Monday afternoon court hearing - then jumped into the bed of a pickup truck that authorities believe was being driven by her husband - 32-year-old Sean Michael D...

AHTD withdraws projects due to funding questions LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department has withdrawn 10 construction projects from its planned list of projects scheduled for award in April. The department said in a news release that the decision is the result of the uncertainty of federal funding through reimbursements available from the Federal Highway Trust Fund. The projects being withdrawn include work on Highway 165 in Chicot County; work on a city ...